Position overview

Canberra Health Services provides multidisciplinary care across a range of hospital and community settings. There are several teams who provide Social Work services across inpatient, outpatient and community settings:

The RACS Inpatient Social work Service is a contemporary evidence-based service that provides high quality services to the rehabilitation wards at the University of Canberra Hospital (UCH), and Acute Care of the Elderly wards at Canberra Hospital (TCH).  The service provides assessment and intervention related to social work support for patients aged 18+ years. Patients vary in their medical conditions and may include people with neurological conditions, orthopaedic conditions, complex medical, and psychosocial conditions and frail aged.

Social workers provide assessment and therapeutic intervention for a range of client populations throughout their patient journey. The patients we see present with a range of psychosocial issues that impact their health circumstances across the lifespan.

Note:  This position(s) may be required to participate in overtime, on call, and/or rotation roster.  This duty statement outlines a range of possible duties that staff are expected to perform at this level. The emphasis placed on each duty will vary according to the requirements of each position. The successful applicant will need to be available for occasional weekend and after-hours work, with access to flex time.

Key Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Under limited direction of the Rehabilitation Aged Care and Community Services (RACS) Inpatient Social Work Manager you will perform the Social Worker role under limited supervision and understand the issues related to health and wellbeing and the impact on the person and their family/carer, including adjustment to change in their health.  The Social Worker will promote improved client outcomes through working in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team to provide high quality clinical services across a range of service specialty areas.

1. Provide a high level of appropriate skilled clinical assessment and psychosocial interventions across a range of clinical areas, including individual and group work to consumers and carers.
2. Exercise independent professional judgment in solving problems and managing cases where principles, procedures and techniques require expansion, adaptation, or modification.
3. Liaise with patients, carers, and service providers, to enhance and improve clinical outcomes and develop partnerships for health promotion and other service activities identified in the business plan.
4. Actively contribute to the supervision and education of staff and students. Actively participate in supervision, continuing professional development and performance management.
5. Actively contribute to the implementation of clinical governance activity, quality improvement projects, research programs and health promotion in areas relevant to service.
6. Actively participate in team meetings, complete clinical and administrative data collection and case records to a consistent high standard.
7. Practice in accordance with the professional body’s code of conduct, practice standards and organisational guidelines and legislative requirements.
8. Undertake other duties appropriate to this level of classification which contribute to the operation of the organisation.

Competencies

Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to the following.

• Psychosocial Assessment & Intervention:
  Conducts comprehensive psychosocial assessments and delivers evidence-informed interventions across a wide range of healthcare presentations.
• Caseload Management:
  Manages and prioritises a complex caseload independently, applying clinical reasoning and organisational strategies to meet client and service needs.
• Clinical Education & Supervision:
  Provides clinical advice, supervision, and education to HP1s, HP2s, Allied Health Assistants, and Social Work students, supporting skill development and professional growth.
• Communication & Stakeholder Engagement:
  Communicates effectively with diverse stakeholders across various settings, using advanced interpersonal skills to support collaboration and client-centred care.
• Adaptability & Responsiveness:
  Adapts practice and service delivery in response to changing client needs, service demands, and organisational priorities.
• Professional Development & Service Improvement:
  Engages in ongoing professional development, participates in clinical supervision, and contributes to service improvement initiatives.
• Organisation & Initiative:
  Demonstrates strong organisational skills and initiative in managing workload, meeting deadlines, and driving service efficiency.
• Complex Task Performance:
  Performs complex, novel, and critical tasks with minimal supervision, applying advanced clinical judgement and problem-solving skills.

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree in Social Work
• Professional membership or eligibility for professional membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).
• Current Drivers Licence

Desirable

• Have an understanding of how the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) indicators align with this role.

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 3 years’ experience working professionally in Social Work

Desirable

• Experience working in a hospital or health related setting.
• Experience or knowledge of the CHS Exceptional Care Framework, and all other related frameworks.

Prior to commencement

Appointment to this position is conditional on being granted and retaining appropriate clearances:

• Pre-employment National Police Check.
• Current registration issued under the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act2011is required.
• Comply with Canberra Health Services Occupational Assessment, Screening and Vaccination policy.
• Comply with CHS credentialing and scope of clinical practice requirements for allied health professionals.

Important information

All employees are required to:

• Adhere to the Canberra Health Services Values and the ACT Public Service Code of Conduct.
• Act in accordance and comply with all relevant Safety and Quality policies and procedures.
• Comply with all relevant clinical and/or competency standards.
• Be available for weekend and/or after-hours work.

CHS is leading the drive to digitally transform health service delivery in Australia through the implementation of a territory wide Digital Health Record. Computer literacy skills are required which are relevant to this role as you will be responsible for completing required documentation and becoming a proficient user of the Digital Health Record and/or other Information Technology systems; once proficient, you will need to remain current with changes, updates, and contingencies.

What you Require (Key Selection Criteria)

These are the key selection criteria for how you will be assessed in conjunction with your resumé and experience and must be addressed in your application:

1. Proven knowledge of and ability to provide a high level of skilled clinical psychosocial assessment, counselling, and complex interventions, which is responsive to multi-faceted patient needs.
2. Superior level of communication skill which is demonstrated through the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external service providers and stakeholders and work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team.
3. Demonstrated critical self-reflection and active participation in professional supervision and provide clinical supervision to professional staff and students.
4. Demonstrated initiation in undertaking innovative quality improvement activities through policy review, quality improvement processes and research to develop evidence-based practice.
5. Demonstrates understanding of, and adherence to, safety and quality standards, work, health and safety (WH&S) and the positive patient experience. Displays behaviour consistent with CHS’s values of reliable, progressive, respectful and kind.

Work environment description

The following work environment description outlines the inherent requirements of the role and indicates how frequently each of these requirements would need to be performed. Please note that the ACT Public Service is committed to providing reasonable adjustments and ensuring all individuals have equal opportunities in the workplace.